Christmas spirit unbroken

This could well be the strangest Christmas many of us will ever experience. And writing about it in October (when we send this issue to press) makes it even more difficult to predict just how much we will be able to see of our beloved family and friends and enjoy the traditional midwinter festivities.

The one constant is the astonishing solace we can all find in the green spaces around us. I don’t need to tell you again about the healing power of nature but the hard fact is that coronavirus struggles to spread outdoors, so we must make our festive sanctuaries in the garden with blankets, woodfires and hearty warming food and drink (see page 32).

Two important effects of the Covid crisis are that many more people have, first, understood the importance of having extensive access to healthy, biodiverse countryside and, second, have appreciated the incredible work done by those who produce our food. If more people have learned to treasure, nurture and protect both, then something truly valuable will have been gained from this disaster.

The place I have missed visiting this year is Wiltshire. I’ve walked hundreds of miles over its waves of uninhabited downland with their eerie barrows, haunted hillforts and carved white horses. I’ve threaded along snug valleys with clear-chalk streams, camped in green dells and supped pints in wood-smoky pubs in ancient villages. I often dream of it, so I’m grateful to Nicola Chester for capturing the spirit of the Wiltshire winter solstice so beautifully (page 18).